No company can succeed without engaged, productive employees, and organizations that invest in their people stand to improve their reputation to customers.
In a recent webinar, Dan Gingiss, chief experience officer at The Experience Maker, and Scott Monroe, Director of Product Marketing at Momentive (maker of SurveyMonkey), spoke about the three top customer experience (CX) trends to be aware of in 2023.
The last two articles in our three-part series discussed how companies could refocus on what matters during economic uncertainty and how to follow digital trends. In this final segment, learn why companies need to connect CX and employee experience (EX) to deliver results, and the steps they can take to do so. You can also watch the full webinar with Gingiss here.
Recommendation #1: Make CX Everyone’s Job
The first thing companies need to realize is that no matter what part of a business an employee is in, they still affect the customer experience. While customer success and support teams directly connect with customers, even employees in other roles (marketing, development, finance, legal, etc.) perform duties that ultimately impact customers.
However, many people in these adjacent roles often do what makes sense from a business perspective, without fully considering customers.
“We need to teach them to think through the customer implications when they make a decision,” Gingiss explained. “If it’s negative, they may need to rethink it. It’s possible to make business decisions that make us money and treat the customer right.”
Research from U.C. Berkeley found that highly “customer-centric” organizations generate 2.5 times more revenue. The study also found that these companies were more likely to break down silos between customer-facing functions and build a culture that rewards customer-centric thinking across all functions.
Recommendation #2: Listen to and Act on Employee Feedback (Not Just Engagement Surveys)
When asked how companies can do a better job of listening to employee feedback, Gingiss said he believes that annual engagement surveys aren’t enough. In addition to connecting with employees more frequently, companies need to combine quantitative feedback mechanisms with qualitative ones.
For example, Gingiss explained managers should look at employee sentiment trends over time and use regular one-on-ones to further explore employees’ needs and concerns. If an employee consistently reports feeling overworked, their manager can address their workload before they’re burned out and it’s too late to fix it.
Likewise, Gingiss stressed the importance of tracking what employees are doing, not just saying. While verbal feedback is important, using various data (such as clock-in and clock-out times) can help employers further validate employee engagement. However, Gingiss conceded that there’s still limited innovation when it comes to tracking EX.
“The answer is usually not that we need more data, but that we have too much and don’t know how to take action on it,” Gingiss said.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Mar
21
Ready to Level Up Your Learning? Discover Your Learning Maturity Score
Learn how to level up your learning program in this free, interactive workshop
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29
The CX Commute vs. the CX Joy Ride
Is your CX traffic holding up your customer's journey?
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29
Is Your Microsoft 365 Data Recoverable? How to Survive the IT Hotseat When Data is Lost
See why MIcrosoft recommends third party backup
Webinar
Mar
30
An Optimized Customer Contact Strategy Combines Transparency and Intelligence: The State of Outbound Communications
Learn from the Neustar-commissioned Forrester Consulting study on challenges and solutions for contact centers
Conference
May
10
CMSWire CONNECT Customer Experience Conference - Austin 2023
Don't miss the top customer experience and digital experience conference of the year — live in Austin, Texas May 10-12.
Conference
May
10
Reworked CONNECT Employee Experience & Digital Workplace Conference Austin 2023
North America's best employee experience and digital workplace conference of the year — live in Austin May 10-12, 2023.
Recommendation #3: Link CX + EX to Business Outcomes
Generally, Gingiss said, companies don’t invest as much in employee experience because they fail to see its link between the customer experience and larger business outcomes.
“The thing about CX is that it’s delivered by employees, whether directly or indirectly,” he said. “Without employees, we don’t have CX.”
Employees across an organization work with buyers at different stages in the customer journey. When employees are unhappy, they're less likely to build experiences that create positive experiences for customers.
On the other hand, employees who love their job and are loyal to the brand are likely to do better for customers. In fact, Harvard Business Review found a clear statistical link between employee well-being and customer satisfaction when comparing employee reviews to ratings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
Conclusion
Although they’re often thought of as different disciplines, CX and EX are both closely linked, with EX supporting CX directly. “Those two worlds intersect and overlap more than anyone would think,” Gingiss said.
By encouraging all employees to be more customer-centric, giving them the support to perform better and solving problems with engagement before they spiral out of control, you can develop a highly productive workforce that delivers on market-leading customer experiences.
Learn how Momentive, maker of SurveyMonkey, can help you deliver memorable customer experiences at momentive.ai.